White Fang?
by rushsignals2
Summary: Takes place in the middle of episode 38. I thought there was a lot more that could be expanded on in this conversation, so I did a little one-shot. Let me know what you think!


Hilde walked through the streets of L2, a large bag of delicious red apples in hand, alone. It was late in the evening, however artificially displayed it was. At least because of the geosynchronous orbit the colonies had, time still flowed at a normal rate. She had gone down to the open air market after work. She was tired, but she liked supporting some of the small businesses that were making a living in the cluster. It wasn't exactly easy to pick up your things and move, nor was it to find much space to grow anything, so it was a treat for her and Duo to have fresh produce.  
>Duo Maxwell was a Gundam pilot, and to say their relationship had been strange from the get-go would be an understatement. He had stolen her Space Leo mobile suit and started to assault the Lunar Base back when she was a member of OZ. She hadn't known he was a pilot when she saw him at a spaceport lobby, and handed him an application for the very organization he had dedicated his life to destroy.<br>Once she learned about his past, and saw his Gundam being destroyed, it suddenly hit home and she sympathized with him. It was strange. OZ had declared their kindness towards the colonies, and only (in their own words) wished for peace for all people. Hilde had seen their actions on Earth, and their coup d'etat from within the Earth military. She had quit OZ, disgusted with the way they acted, and treated the colonists. She would not be a party to the group who would knowingly try to conquer the world with its false promises.  
>Duo had been hiding since he had escaped from OZ's hands at the Lunar Base. She had been shocked to see him, with his devil-may-care grin plastered on his face, and long braid swaying behind him one day in front of her home. But she had been happy just to see him again, and it had taken very little convincing for her to let him hide out with her for a while. It's very difficult for a person to forget a Gundam pilot, especially one who had gotten as close as he had to her. She was constantly worried that some faction or another would discover him, but she guessed that he wasn't a pilot for nothing and could cover his tracks extremely well. It had been difficult modifying her garage to fit his Gundam. It was even more difficult for the two of them because he was now all over wanted posters in town, and at the height of a war between OZ and the White Fang revolutionaries, he couldn't find a job. It was a financial strain for her to support two people, and the parts that he needed for his Gundam. It wasn't to say that he didn't pull his weight- Duo acted much like a stay-at-home dad, and would clean the house, cook for her (surprisingly well) and was good company after a long day at work. It was really all he could do.<br>Duo had started to grow restless very quickly, though, and sometimes made trips outside the house in disguise. They had argued about it before, but she had felt bad that he had been cooped up all day. There had been no outlet in their home for any of that pent-up stress, and it had gotten to them. They had had the worst fight either of them could remember, and Hilde was pretty sure that the neighbors were an inch away from calling the police on the both of them.  
>She sighed, remembering that night. She had said hurtful things to him. Things she could never take back. But he had borne all of it, in silence only after she had called him a coward for standing by while people continued to die, on Earth and in the colonies. She had seen tears in his eyes, and not even felt bad until the anger had faded.<br>Hilde looked up from her musings and saw a purple Leo with "Peace & Freedom" painted in flowery lettering on it, and a crowd of soldiers around the foot. She sighed. It was almost ironic that they would paint that on the side of a weapon. Someone wouldn't be happy with the rule of whoever was in charge, and start a revolution in the nation, colony, or organization in charge. It was no different in White Fang. Their "peace and freedom" would only last as long as it was convenient to everyone, if they even succeeded.  
>She approached the house as it started to creep darker. Soon it would be fully night, and she wanted to be home and relax with Duo before that happened. As she approached her home, she heard voices from inside. She paused by the big picture window in the living room to hear who was talking, thinking the worst. Had OZ found him, finally?<br>Duo sounded disgusted at the three men standing in front of him. With a wave of dismissal he answered, "Get lost, I told you there's nothing to discuss."  
>The leading man was dressed in a beige trenchcoat with a white armband around his left arm. 'White Fang!' she thought. 'That must be why that Leo is a few blocks down...'<br>The White Fang man responded, threateningly, "If you insist on being uncooperative, we will have to resort to other ways of convincing you."  
>Duo looked away from him and put his hands on his hips."Is that so?" He glared at the man, and looked him dead in the eyes. "You think threatening me is going to change my mind?"<br>Duo walked to the door, and cracked it open.  
>"Come on, your time is up."<br>The three men didn't seem to want to take no for an answer. For a minute, they looked angry with him, and Hilde became afraid that they were going to hurt Duo. The second man she had seen, with a matching jacket and armband to the first sadly said, "We felt it necessary to have the Gundam as our group's symbol. So it's a shame, Duo Maxwell, that you're going to be our enemy."  
>She watched as Duo's face turned into a sheet of rage. She could practically feel the intensity of his gaze through the wall of the house. "Don't go getting me angry. Not if you value your life!" He threw the door wide open. "Get going. Now."<br>The three men exited the house, and ignored Hilde. She was grateful that they didn't want anything to do with her.  
>As Duo watched them leave, he saw Hilde standing against the side of the house, looking down at the ground. She looked tired, and worn out from her day at work. Great... The last thing she needed was to come home to this. It was a thin camoflauge, and after all the time they had spent together she would most likely see through it, but he wanted to let her know that everything was all right. He smiled, and said cheerfully, "Oh, hi Hilde." He chuckled a little. "Didn't see you there."<br>Hilde stayed looking at the ground a minute and then walked inside. She knew that he wasn't truly happy like he always pretended. But it was hard to tell what he was thinking through that mask. "I'm surprised they found this place."  
>Duo seemed very nonchalant about the whole exchange she had just heard. She would would never stop being amazed at his ability to lie with a straight face. It was hard to gague his emotions sometimes, even after the month they had spent together.<br>He shut the door behind him. "As they say, evil attracts evil. Now I've got no choice but to leave, I guess."  
>That stuck in her chest, as soon as she heard it. She had dreaded hearing those words. It had been for a short time, but she had been happy with Duo. She didn't want him to leave. She wanted to give him the life that he wanted, the life he was fighting to build.<br>"Leave here? Do you have to?" She set the bag down, and began to pull out the apples one by one so she wouldn't have to look him in the eyes. She wouldn't let him know how much that one statement had hurt her.  
>She was glad when he missed the pain in her eyes and continued on, "Sure do, I've already been way too big a pain to you and this town." She almost huffed at him calling himself a 'pain' to her. The man was as thick as Gundanium sometimes.<br>Duo walked back over from leaning against the door, where he had been watching her.  
>Hilde was silent for a minute before she decided to try the only option that would keep them together. She looked up at him.<br>"Can't I go with you?"  
>It was Duo's turn to look at the floor. She knew that he didn't want to involve her in his own problems. White Fang had come looking for him, not for just anyone with piloting experience. They were serious about fighting against OZ and the Mobile Dolls, but they hadn't come here because they were looking for muscle.<br>He stayed silent.  
>"I guess not, then..."<br>His one word answer seemed almost sympathetic. She had been very careful guarding her feelings around him, she didn't want to weigh him down with any emotional baggage while he was fighting (as she knew he would continue to) but he could have seen through her mask.  
>"No."<br>It wasn't as if options were closed to him. Hilde knew that it was a difficult choice for Duo. White Fang represented the will of the colonies, the very thing he had gone to Earth in the first place to try and fight for. When OZ took over, however, they had stopped caring. The colonies regarded them as traitors, and it had hurt all five of the pilots. This was his chance to fight for them again, against yet another oppressive rule. But it would also mean him killing many more people, and so much more unneccessary bloodshed to make it happen.  
>"Look, you could still join the White Fang if you wanted to, right? You are fighting for the colonies after all."<br>It was strange, he seemed to be considering it for a minute. "Hmm..."  
>That gave her hope about the situation. Maybe it wasn't going to mean that they had to split up after all. She excitedly continued, "I could even go back to the military, and start fighting again with you in White Fang!"<br>Duo instantly got quiet. She gasped as he suddenly snatched the last apple right out of her hands forcing her to look at him. He stayed silent, and just looked at her. He was angry at her. He was beyond angry with her, but he wouldn't ever want her to know just how bad it was. This time it was certain what he was thinking.  
>"But Duo-"<br>"Not. A. Chance," he interrupted her. "You've finally found your niche in life, so why would you give it up now?" She didn't know what to say, it was a good plan for them to stick together. She just didn't want to lose him, why couldn't he see that?  
>"Huh?"<br>Duo put his hands on her shoulders, the anger gone from his eyes. All that was left in its place was care, and concern.  
>"Listen to me, Hilde. I just don't trust those remind me of how OZ was not too long ago." It was true. She knew it, and she knew she was defeated, but she had to try one last time. Duo would never see reason if he wasn't slapped in the face with it repeatedly. She didn't want to watch the pilots (him, specifically) be hurt again by another war.<br>"But nobody is thanking you for what you're doing now." She was angry at him for not looking at the enormity of what five individuals had been able to accomplish in such a short time. "At least with the White Fang, you know that you will be treated like a hero. Treated like you deserve."  
>His features stiffened in anger, and then his shoulders slumped, defeated. "I'm not interested in that. I'll just keep doing my thing as the God of Death."<br>Hilde could see the hurt in his eyes, finally. It was no different from how she was feeling. 'That God of Death line though... That was unnerving,' she thought. She looked down.  
>"That's... So lonely..."<br>His shoulders sagged even farther.  
>"That's the route that we Gundam pilots chose, though. We can't let the colonies get involved in any war. Not again. There's already been too much destruction." He turned away from her, and Hilde walked right behind him, putting her arms around him. She rested her head on his upper back as well, and tried to stop herself from crying. 'How can he not see? How? I may have only realized it recently, but he is better at reading people than he will ever admit. He knows!' she thought. She started to shake, and he turned around in her arms.<br>"Hilde... please..." He took a finger and held it under her eye, brushing away a tear. She hadn't known she'd been crying. She just didn't want him to leave. She clutched him to her with all her strength and buried her face in his chest.  
>He put his arms around her in return.<br>"Hilde, I'm coming back to you. When this is all over, I promise you I will. But for now, the fight isn't over for me."  
>She stopped shaking as hard as before, but looked into his eyes. She hoped she could tell him everything with this.<br>She leaned up, and kissed him. She poured all her passion, her fears, her lust, and her hope into that kiss.  
>It seemed to go on for an eternity, and she never wanted it to end, but when she finally pulled away from him to breathe, she shoved him towards the garage door, towards Deathscythe.<br>"Go, Shinigami." 


End file.
